BDwest Announces Design Competition Winners

Share Article

Innovative concepts and designs will come to life at the inaugural BDwest trade fair, staging April 4-5 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA. Three U.S. based firms have been invited to design key experiential destinations on this year’s trade fair floor and winners of a pre-show design competition will also build out their winning concepts.

We invited firms from around the world to submit entries displaying their creativity.

Past News Releases

The newest trade fair in Hospitality Media Group’s (HMG) portfolio may be several months away, but one of the key design competitions has already taken place, according to Michelle Finn, President of HMG.

In addition to the trade fair’s first design competition, BDwest also extended special invitations to three leading design firms, Stonehill & Taylor, Design Poole and Cauhaus Design, to create visionary design experiences on the Boutique Design trade fair floor. Mike Suomi, and his Stonehill & Taylor team, will be designing the bar at the center of the show floor, while Trisha Poole and her firm will bring the pampering luxury of a spa to BDwest. Toby Schermerhorn and her Cauhaus Design staff will be offering a cutting edge take on al fresco dining on the terrace.

“We selected these three U.S. based firms to design key experiential destinations on this year’s trade fair floor. For our first design competition, we invited firms from around the world to submit entries displaying their creativity. We used an RFP process, whereby those firms would compete for the opportunity to create unique design experiences on the trade fair floor of BDwest, our newest trade fair, which will stage in San Diego, California April 4-5 of this year and also at BDNY,” said Finn.

The competition challenged designers to maximize their creativity in creating three types of spaces: A Fusion Taco Bar, a guest room experience entitled “Indulge Your Inner Diva” and “Spa-tacular: The Memorable Bathroom. The participating firms had to meet budget parameters ranging from $100 per square foot to a total budget of $12,500.

Judges Mike Marshall, president and CEO, Marshall Hotels & Resorts, Tracy Borkum, founder of Urban Kitchen Group and Carl “Chip” Isaacson crowned Hard Rock International the winner of the Fusion Taco Bar, which will be built out at BDwest.

Judges Mark Harmon, CEO, Auberge Resorts; David Sussman, senior vice president, hotel development and design, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group; George Scammell, vice president global design, Wyndham Worldwide brought their personal expertise to determining the winners of the full-service glitz and glamour hotel room. Studio Gaia won honors for Best Guest Room: Hot Concept and Design Group Carl Ross won the award for Best Guest Room: Cool Space. Their entries will get coast-to-coast exposure. At BDwest, competition sponsor D’Style will provide the casegoods and lighting for the build-out of the Design Group Carl Ross entry, while Studio Gaia’s concept will be built out at HMG’s East Coast trade fair, BDNY, scheduled for Nov. 10-11 at New York’s Javits Center North.

ABOUT HOSPITALITY MEDIA GROUP (HMG)
HMG is a privately held media company serving the global hospitality industry and specializing in trade fairs, conferences and event management and development.

Events included in the HMG portfolio are: BDwest; BDNY; Management of IHMRS; Boutique Design Forums; Boutique 18 and sponsorship of the Gold Key Awards. BDNY and BDwest trade fairs are produced by HMG and sponsored by Boutique Design.